Category Archives: Garden Tools & Tips

Garden Tools & Tips

Spring Gardening Starts Now: 3 Tips to Get You Started

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Double Cold Frame  Walk-In Greenhouse  Cedar Greenhouse Kit 8x8   

Snow may be on the ground and temperatures well below freezing, but backyard gardening enthusiasts are already looking ahead to spring.  If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to start making your gardening plans for the upcoming season.  Here are a few tips to get you going:

  • Gardening Goals:  What do you want to grow?  Annuals, perennials, vegetables, fruits?  The options are limitless, but your space and time are not.  Determine how much space you have available in your garden, what you’d like to achieve with your gardening (beauty, food, or both), and how much time you are willing and able to put into creating and maintaining the garden.  Your answers to these questions will help you immensely as you go forward with your garden plans.
  • Seed Selection:  If your garden plan includes starting indoors with seedlings, start browsing seed catalogs now, and place your orders before the end of January.  When it’s time to transplant your seedlings into the garden, they’ll have had enough time to develop.
  • A Place for Gardening:  If you don’t already own a hobby greenhouse, you should consider obtaining one, especially if you want to extend the growing season and have a dedicated place for gardening activities.  Hobby greenhouses come in all sizes, so starting small is a good way to get a taste for what greenhouse gardening can offer.  Greenhouses provide a gardener with much more flexibility in terms of what can be grown and when.  They are especially attractive to gardeners who live in cooler climates where the growing season is shorter.

   

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Garden Tools & Tips, Innovative Solutions

Composting Fall Leaves

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The leaves are changing and falling to the ground at a rapid pace. It makes for a beautiful time of year, but also a mess on your lawn. Why not get rid of those falling leaves in a way that is great for landscaping in multiple ways. Compost bins are perfect for recycling those fall leaves into something that is actually GOOD for your lawn. Add the leaves, along with household food scraps, to your compost bin and it will be rapidly decomposed, creating some of the richest and most natural soil you have ever seen. It can then be returned to your lawn and garden, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers. Pine needles, grass clippings, kitchen waste, and even paper towels can also be added to your compost bin. Do something great for your lawn, your family, and your environment. You will get so much enjoyment in realizing that you are reducing your waste by turning it into a useful resource.

Environmentally Friendly Ideas, Garden Tools & Tips

How to Compost Autumn Leaves For Late Spring Use

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Compost Bins

Composting your autumn leaves is the best way to dispose of them.  Not only do you keep those leaves out of the landfill, but composting allows you to create nutrient-rich “black gold” that your garden plants will love.  Here are a few tips on preparing your autumn leaves for the compost bin:

  • Don’t bother shredding your leaves before you put them into the compost bin; whole leaves are better for compost.
  • Autumn leaves are high in carbon, but low in nitrogen; for balance, add to your compost bin two parts fresh, green grass clippings or other green organic matter to one part leaves.
  • Moisture is important for decomposition; be sure to add water to your compost initially, and then periodically check the moisture content to make sure that your compost is moist, but not soggy.  Add water as needed.

Turning autumn leaves into spring compost doesn’t require much time or effort.  If you prepare your compost properly, and check on it periodically over the late autumn and winter months, you should be able to look forward to using that compost when it comes time to plant your garden in late spring.

Overall, making your own compost is not only good for the environment, it’s good for your wallet because it saves you from having to buy compost from the local garden center.

Find out more about what can be put into the compost bin, and what should be left out:  Composting Basics.

Backyard Fun, Garden Tools & Tips, Storage Solutions

Cedar Greenhouse Kits

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Cedar Greenhouse Kit

 

If you enjoy gardening year round, a greenhouse is a great investment to make. While many people think of a greenhouse as a metal and glass eyesore, they are some beautiful options available. Cedar greenhouse kits are a charming alternative to traditional greenhouses and will add beauty to any landscape. The building comes complete with built-in benches for your plant storage. The high performance thermoplastic windows transmit up to 90% of visible light, while filtering out harmful ultraviolet light. It is also equipped with a functional dutch door and rear window which ensures air circulation while you are working hard inside. The red cedar is sturdy and pleasing to the eyes, ensuring you will love it for years to come. These greenhouses also make a perfect work space for artists and backyard warriors who build, repair, and relax outdoors every weekend.

Garden Tools & Tips, Holidays & Gift Ideas

Unique Gift Ideas For the Backyard Gardener To Fit Every Budget

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Solar Lighted Planter

You want to get a gift for that special person in your life, but the hard part is deciding what to buy.  Gift cards are an easy solution, but they tend to be a bit impersonal.  To find a unique gift that your friend will love and appreciate, spend a few minutes thinking about that person and who he or she is.  What does your special person do for fun?  How does he or she spend spare time?  What activities bring joy or contentment to your friend’s life?

Is gardening a favorite activity of your special person?  If so, here are a few unique gift ideas that would please any backyard gardener, and they won’t break your budget:

  • Garden Tools — Every gardener has a set of gardening tools, but having a spare set of tools on hand is a goodGarden Tool Set idea.  A unique twist on the gift of gardening tools is a gift that encompasses more.  A garden tool set that comes with a handy storage tote and sturdy folding seat offers multiple uses and adds value for the gardener.

 

  • Decorative planters — Every gardener has a stash of planters tucked away for use when necessary, but choosing a unique decorative planter for your gardener will ensure that it stays filled with beautiful flowers and plants year round.  Lighted planters are one example of a decorative planter that is affordable and serves more than one purpose — not only are lighted planters used to display flowers and plants, but they provide a soft, comforting glow at night.  Lighted planters are available in solar-powered or electric varieties.

 

  • Potting Bench — Does your gardener have a dedicated space for re-potting, transplanting, or working with plants and flowers? If he or she uses a random table top or even the ground to do this work, then a proper potting bench would make the perfect gift.  Choose a potting bench constructed of a hardy, weather-resistant wood, such as Western Red Cedar.  It should also have at least two shelves for storing potting soil and extra pots, and hooks for hanging gardening tools.  A feature much appreciated by gardeners is a lip that goes around the sides and back of the potting bench — this keeps the soil on the table top and makes it easier to clean up that spilled soil when potting is done.

Finding just the right gift for your special person really is possible.  With a little thought, the gift you choose can not only be unique, but affordable and practical, too.

Potting Bench